Brandon Saridjo works hard, plans to leave his mark on the world

He calls himself a ‘fanboy’ and claims Broward College as his second home. Brandon Saridjo is a motivated and politically charged 19-year-old sophomore student at BC. He is Surinamese and Javanese and is majoring in international relations and hoping to transfer in 2018 to the University of Florida. He graduated from Miramar High School in 2016.

“I knew I wanted to be involved in whatever institution I went to but I didn’t expect to come to BC,” he says. “I applied to a bunch of different schools and I thought I was a pretty good high school student, but they didn’t and I didn’t get in, which at the time was really bad but in retrospect I think it paid off.”

BC has benefited him so much in terms of academics and extra curricular. He says it has been preparing him for the workforce more than any other university would at this point in his life. As a child, he bounced around career choices going from wanting to be a fireman, to joining the coast guard, journalism, and even teaching. On his high school graduation day, he thought hard about what he wanted to do in life and came to the conclusion of wanting to travel and wanting to change the world.

“I took my first my first political science course in my first semester and that changed everything for me. It opened up a whole new world,” he says.

With an international relations degree, he wants to change the world through working for the United Nations (UN).

“I always knew that before I died I didn’t want to leave just a speck on the planet; I wanted to leave some type of impact,” he says.

Saridjo is in the Honors College, president of the Honors Student Committee, vice president of the Political Science Club, and a member of Model UN.

“Here at BC what really stoked the flame was the honors college. When I joined I felt like I was a part of something bigger and it made me believe that anything is possible and through the honors college I joined the model UN,” he says.

Through competing and researching, he has gotten a new perspective on the amount of change a person can bring to the world and all the change that needs to be done. Outside of school, he can be found in the forest, driving around, at a hookah bar, or playing arcade games.

“Through college I learned that I like being outdoors. I like camping,” he says.

Saridjo recently went on a camping trip with his teammates and said it was an amazing experience. He loves kayaking and hanging out with his friends from school.

“I’m really good at claw machines,” he claims.

He spent three days on YouTube, researching claw machine tactics and how to tell the good ones from the bad. His short-term goal is to graduate and his long-term goal is to work in the UN. He would also like to eventually get his Masters degree. He would like to move to Washington D.C. or New York and work at the GA. He is currently trying to get an internship involved in the UN and also trying to participate in NMUN as a representative for Palestine. Saridjo views life as a graph with highs and lows.

“Don’t be comfortable. When you’re comfortable that means you’re being complacent and it means you’re not doing anything,” he says. “Expose yourself to things you’ve never been exposed to.”

He recently went to an event about sea level rise and wasn’t interested at first. However, after attending the event he feels more passionate about the topic and is able to implement it into his passion.

He feels strongly toward going out of his comfort zone and challenging himself. It helps him grow as a person. Saridjo also advises students to not be afraid to ask questions and to take classes that are not related to their major. Doing so makes students better rounded and gives them a different perspective.

Finally, Saridjo tells students not to give up.

“Everyone has something to contribute to the world you just have to find it. Everyone has a penny to put in the pot you just got to find out what you want to dedicate that penny for,” he says.